How to start a local PostgreSQL database with Docker

#Basic setup

docker-compose.yml

version: "3"
services:
  postgres:
    image: "postgres"
    container_name: "postgres"
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=john
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=shhhht
      - POSTGRES_DB=project
    ports:
      - 5432:5432

Note: a default database called postgres will be created.

#Interacting with the service

To start the service:

docker compose up -d

To stop the service:

docker compose down

#Working with the PostgreSQL shell

To access the shell:

docker exec -it postgres psql project -U john

• docker exec -it - run a command to a running container
• postgres - the container name
• psql - the command
• project - the database you want to connect to
• -U john - the user

To exit the shell:

exit

#Overriding configuration parameters

version: "3"
services:
  postgres:
    image: "postgres"
    container_name: "postgres"
    command:
      - "postgres"
      - "-c"
      - "log_connections=yes"
      - "-c"
      - "max_connections=1337"
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=john
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=shhhht
      - POSTGRES_DB=project
    ports:
      - 5432:5432

#Using a custom Dockerfile

docker-compose.yml

version: "3"
services:
  postgres:
    build: .
    container_name: "postgres"
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=john
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=shhhht
      - POSTGRES_DB=project
    ports:
      - 5432:5432

Dockerfile

FROM postgres:14
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y postgresql-14-wal2json